New Year at Midnight
by Nonnie88
Summary: "They say that what you're doing when the clock hits midnight on New Years, that's what you're going to be doing all year." Pre-series FLUFF...


**_I'd like to say a massive Thank You to everyone in the Madam Secretary fandom for being around this year. Thank you for the reviews, the encouragement and the friendships I have made thanks to this amazing little fandom world,_**

**_I hope that you all have an amazing New Year, and I look forward to hopefully bringing you more stories! _**

**_Much love, Honor!_**

* * *

Elizabeth sat alone on her bed in her dorm room, eating buttered popcorn and reading Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions. The clock on the table beside her bed read 23:31, and she tried desperately to think of ways to have fun for the next hour or so, so she could have 'fun' for the year ahead. The only thing she could think of would be to head down into the common area and go to the New Year's Party that the remaining students of Alderman Road Dorms were in charge of this year. But that would mean that Henry would be there, he had friends in this dorm, and she knew he had an invite.

Henry had sat down next to her in their 'Theologies of Liberation' class during her Freshman year and thus Elizabeth had ended up spending a lot of time with her new partner. Now though, it was starting to suck because she was in love with him. And had been pretty much since he told her his name, over a year ago.

But spending time with a guy who was dating someone else, a guy who had captured her heart, a guy who had become her best friend but didn't seem to want more, was literally hell on earth.

The last few weeks she had avoided him as much as she could, only conversing during class and avoiding their spot in the library, telling him she had other plans for studying. Deep down she felt like she was pining for him, her feelings were getting stronger and she didn't feel like she could even spend much of the holiday period with a guy, whom she loved, but couldn't have.

So, going to the party was out of the question, right?

Looking down at the half-eaten bowl of popcorn, and the book that now sprawled across her lap, she sighed. This was beyond pathetic and she didn't want to admit that she was restless, so she decided that going to the party would be better than staying in her room, eating her feelings. She changed into a loose, red dress that hit her just above the knee, and added some white converse that would make her feel relatively comfortable. She grabbed a white cardigan and pulled that over her shoulders as she looked in the mirror at herself.

It wasn't the best look, but it was suitable for this occasion. She doubted that many people would have made an effort.

She was wrong. The minute she hit the stairs, she heard the music and the noise filling the common area, the place was packed, and most of the people she saw were unfamiliar. She didn't expect this many people to still be on campus over the festive period.

"_Twenty minutes_!" She heard a blonde in the corner shout. "_We begin the countdown at exactly eleven-fifty-nine! Whooooooo,"_ a round of cheers went around the room as Elizabeth started to shove her way through the crowd, reminding herself to keep an eye out for Henry. If she saw him tonight, she honestly didn't know what she would do.

After shoving her way through the throng of people to get to the drinks table on the opposite side of the room, she found a friend from her math class, David, drinking a beer and loudly telling anyone who would listen that he and his girlfriend Emily were now engaged. Emily was blushing, fiercely embarrassed, asking quietly for him to stop.

Elizabeth sighed, moving next to Emily, "I can punch him if you want?" she whispered. Emily turned her head towards Elizabeth.

"Thanks, I'll be fine, he's just a little…"

"Too much to handle?" Elizabeth finished. "Don't worry, I reckon once he's sobered up he will be quieter, and very apologetic." Elizabeth grinned.

"I'll take your word for it, Lizzie."

Elizabeth was about to answer when she felt a tap on her shoulder. She whirled around and regretted it immediately.

"Oh, Henry, hello," she said, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. "Ummm, how are you?'

Henry merely glared at her.

Elizabeth gulped, "Um, Henry, is something wrong?"

Henry took her gently by the arm and tugged her away from the crowd of people at the drinks table, to a more secluded area by the stairs she had not long came down. "Would you care to explain to me why you've been avoiding everything to do with me except for class, for the last few weeks?" he said.

"Uh, Henry," she stuttered, not sure what she wanted to say to him but thinking she needed to brave it out and just tell him. "Don't you think it's obvious?" How could he not see her feelings for him? How could he stand there and question her like this?

He raised an eyebrow. "I feel like it's 'obvious' that _I_ don't see the obvious, have I done something to make you hate me? That's the only reason why one person would avoid another, right?"

Elizabeth blinked. _He _wasn't avoiding her, which, considering his logic, meant that he didn't hate her. But, still considering his logic, that meant that she hated him. But even more so, he had actually sought her out. What did that mean?

"Don't strain yourself," Henry said, interrupting her thoughts. She looked up into his eyes, noticing the smirk on his lips. Those lips that looked so inviting. In her mind, Elizabeth squealed with delight. "So, do you?"

"What?" Elizabeth asked dumbly. "Do I what?"

"Hate me?" Henry answered.

"Henry," she said, smiling sadly and laughing at herself. "My feelings for you are the exact opposite of hate. And I honestly thought you knew that."

He crossed his lean, muscular arms—Elizabeth nearly had a heart attack at the sight of his muscles through the cloth of his shirt—and raised an eyebrow. Elizabeth's cheeks once again went red.

"Obviously, you didn't," she said, defeated. "Okay, so um, I have to go now."

She turned to leave, but Henry's hand shot out and grabbed her arm. Without turning her head, she sighed. "What, Henry? Haven't I been humiliated enough here?"

Something flashed in his eyes.

"Elizabeth, come with me," he commanded gently.

She turned to look at him and shook her head. "No, Henry."

_"Ten minutes_!" she heard the blonde from earlier yell and more cheers erupted from the crowd.

"I just… I have to go," she mumbled, pulling her arm out of his grasp. "See you in class after the holidays."

She turned again and took one step. Henry suddenly appeared in front of her, blocking the only pathway to the stairs.

"Elizabeth, all I want is for you to listen to me. That's all I ask, and then you can go wherever you want," he told her, his hazel eyes smoldering. "I promise."

She debated it for a moment, her shoulders sagged slightly. "Fine." She took hold of his arm and led him up the stairs, away from the crowd, but still where she could see people milling about. She stopped and turned, jumping up onto the window ledge, crossing her legs at her ankles and folding her arms across her chest. "I'm listening."

Henry watched her for a moment and she began to feel the tension in the air. It seemed harder to breathe. He jumped up next to her on the ledge. And now that he was only a few inches away from her, her skin tingled and her heart beat faster.

"I broke up with Rochana a few weeks ago," he began. He paused as her head shot up to look at him but immediately looked back down when he started talking again. "She was the one for me, or at least I thought she was because something happened. I met someone else."

Elizabeth unfolded her arms and started picking at the hem of her dress, staring intently, not wanting to hear this. But she had promised to listen. That was all she had to do. Then she could leave.

"And by breaking up with her, I would be free to date this other girl. But after breaking up with Rochana, though, I was faced with some… Problems... The girl I met didn't seem interested. I tried everything I could to help her figure out how I felt, but she didn't seem to take the bait, so to speak. You know what I thought then?"

She shook her head, still picking at her dress.

"I gave up. And became friends with other people. I went on a date with another girl. I tried to talk to her, but when she didn't talk I nearly killed myself with my ROTC training trying to make myself forget the girl I had met."

Elizabeth stopped picking at the hem of her dress, and wrangled her fingers together suddenly wishing she was somewhere else.

"And, you know what? That didn't work!" Henry exclaimed. "She was completely oblivious!"

_"Five minutes_!" The blonde yelled.

Elizabeth looked back up at Henry. "You cared about the girl that much? That you would keep working and working to try and make her notice you?"

"Yes," he answered simply. "I didn't think she wouldn't notice."

"But, Henry, you're so… So intelligent and funny and tough, and I know you are nice too, you are always willing to go the extra mile to help someone out, whether it's being a study partner to help them cram for a test or something else. You ARE amazing. I mean, it's not like you like me as more than a friend or anything…"

"I do like you, Elizabeth, that's the thing," Henry said, staring at her with an amused expression on his face. "And you're babbling."

Elizabeth blushed, apologizing. She didn't seem to have heard what he said.

_"Two minutes_!"

"Elizabeth, did you hear me?"

"Huh?" she asked, turning back to face him again. "I'm sorry. I guess I wasn't really paying attention. Sorry, Henry."

He smirked. "I said that I do like you. It shouldn't be a surprise."

But it was.

Elizabeth's mouth opened in an 'O' and she almost fell off the ledge.

"_One minute! Everybody get ready!_"

"So, what makes you like me?" She still couldn't comprehend that he had said that he liked her.

"Knowing that you are a very caring, compassionate, loving person."

"_Fifty_!"

"And what about the girl you met?" she asked. The two were gradually leaning toward each other, her eyes dropping to his lips occasionally.

"I'll introduce you," he teased.

"_Forty_!"

Elizabeth couldn't believe it! Henry McCord was teasing her! She could tell by the way she leaned forward quickly, he would move just out of reach of her lips.

"_Thirty_!"

"What about my problems?" she asked, looking up at him through her eyelashes, which was something she never thought she'd do.

"It makes me want to protect you even more from the outside world."

He was the one who moved closer this time.

"_Twenty_!"

"What about when you broke up with Rochana?" she asked. They stopped moving closer together, and she panicked. "You we're together for a while. Are you sure you're over her?"

"Completely?" he breathed. Now they were only inches away. They were sharing breath and Elizabeth swore he could hear her heart pounding in her ears.

"Yes…"

"I have been since I introduced myself to this girl I met when I sat next to her in 'Theologies of Liberation.' Is that enough?" he whispered. His breath hit her face and her eyes nearly rolled back in her skull.

"Believe me, it is," she whispered back. His eyes darkened.

"_Fifteen_!"

"Henry?"

"Mhmm?" he mumbled, his eyes dropping to her lips. They looked inviting, especially when he saw her tongue dart out and wet them. He followed suit and sighed in anticipation.

"They say that what you're doing when the clock hits midnight on New Years, that's what you're going to be doing all year," she told him.

"_Ten_"

"Well, then," he murmured, "I think we should…"

"Kiss?" she finished, hoping he'd say yes. They were already so close…

"_Eight_!"

"Yeah, that," he agreed, moving closer, tilting his head and brushing his lips against hers.

"_Six_!"

She leaned into the gentle kiss, twisting her body, lifting her arm to hold onto the side of his head, the ledge they were sitting on making it awkward.

Henry pulled away for less than a second, jumping from the ledge, moving to stand between her legs as he cupped her cheeks with his hands as he brought her head forward to kiss her properly.

"_Five_"

Elizabeth sighed softly into the kiss, relishing his taste, the feel of his lips against hers. In response to her sigh, he kissed her more deeply, running his tongue on her lower lip, asking for entrance, which she gladly granted.

"_Two_!"

He stepped closer towards her, pressing his body as flush as he could get it. Both moaned a little in pleasure.

_"One! Happy New Year_!"

They broke apart, both gasping for breath. Henry took a small step back from her, instantly missing her warmth.

"That was…" Elizabeth trailed off and she slowly opened her eyes, "That felt…Oh my…Wow."

Henry smirked, "That good, huh?" All she could do was close her eyes and nod. Henry moved closer to her once again, the fingers on his right hand caressing her cheek. "I think this year is going to be wonderful, Elizabeth Adams."

Elizabeth opened her eyes once again, finding his hazel ones, she smiled, "I really hope so."

* * *

**_FLUFF! it has become my new favourite thing!_**

**_Also the origin of E/H is intriguing me more everyday! _**


End file.
